1) Yes it does. The validity with which people assert that some of the older runners are better than the newer ones applies because they ran in different eras. Fernandez is not eligible to receive that handicap.
2) Doesn't matter. 8:29 > 8:34 by a massive margin.
3) Verzbicas was being rained on, and the rabbit was a terrible pacer. He went out in 57 for the 400m, and came into the 800m at 2:01.
4) You've acknowledged the point.
5) He was a distance runner. He ran 5ks during cross country, and had every opportunity to run a 5k race. In fact, in the ONE course that both of them have run on (Footlocker Nationals), Verzbicas ran faster during both his first and second victories. Fernandez was dragged along the entire race by the eventual winner and second place, while Verzbicas led the whole way through without any actual competition.
6) Here's the thing. During Ryun's era, there WERE no national high school track titles. This is the purpose of point 1. Ryun gets a bye because he ran in an era in which some of what Verzbicas accomplished would be impossible.
Fernandez could run at both NBIN and NBON, and incidentally, he did fairly well at NBON, winning the 2-mile. However, total up his titles, and he has less than Verzbicas. The comparison is valid when it is relevant, and in this case, it is, because both of them ran at National-level High School Track meets.
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The only people who actually think Fernandez was a superior high school runner have absolutely no idea as to what they're talking about.
They graduated 3 years apart, so their access to competition, opportunities, and training methodologies are virtually identical. One of them has faster times in cross country, faster times in track over every relevant distance, more national victories in cross country, and more national victories in track.
Your only valid argument is that Verzbicas had a rabbit and Fernandez did not. But of course, I could say plenty of nearly-irrelevant factors too. For instance, I could say that Verzbicas was rained on when he ran a sub-4 mile, and Fernandez was not when he ran his 4:00 1600m. I could also say that Verzbicas experienced injuries that removed him from a significant portion of his sophomore xc season, yet still won Footlocker, while Fernandez did not.
When you run an 8:29 2-mile with a rabbit, and your competition's best 2-mile is only 8:34, you're better regardless.